Death Penalty - Legal Murder
Christian Pages
Thou shalt not kill. The death penalty is
the act of committing legal murder.

Death Penalty - Two little words that mean
the legal act of committing murder.

I am totally against the Death Penalty, no matter how heinous the crime. My views on the death penalty come from a biblical perspective. The words Death Penalty, are two little words that mean the legal act of committing murder.

We as human beings, whether we be Christian or not, cannot contribute to murder, and call it what you may, "The Death Penalty" is committing the act of murder. I do believe that if we find ourselves in a life threatening situation with someone, then our natural instincts to survive have every right to react and do whatever it takes to save our own lives.

I recently read about the execution of Karla Faye Tucker. It has had an enormous affect on me. I feel great sadness and compassion for her, as well as the victims and their families.
We might ask ourselves, what our true motives are; to be so inclined to have someone die. Is it a cry for justice, revenge or something worse? Will this society go so far someday to make an execution a public activity for all to gather around to see? Will there be vendors among us yelling, "Peanuts," "popcorn," "hotdogs!" Will our children hear us cold bloodedly and merciless yell, "Kill, Kill Kill!" This frightens and chills me much more than the criminal himself! Do we not stand in horror by those countries that decapitate, or pull out limbs from men and women because they have been accused of some deed? We do the exact same thing.

Why is the poverty stricken man who committed the ultimate crime executed, while the wealthy and rich who committed the same crime, are given life? We all know this happens. Is this equal justice? If we, as a Christian Community, proclaim to be Christians, then how can we be for the Death Penalty? Although, I'm the first to admit that I am NOT a scholar of the Holy Bible, I do understand the BASICS of it, "The 10 Commandments." Is not one of the commandments, "Thou Shalt Not Kill?" Has it come to the point where we, as Christians, will only obey those Commandments which we find convenient for ourselves, and still proclaim ourselves to be Christians? Aren't we as a Christian society being a bit hypocritical? I believe so.

Since I was a law student, I have been against the
death penalty. It does not deter. It is severely
discriminatory against minorities, especially since
they’re given no competent legal counsel defense in
many cases. It’s a system that has to be perfect.
You cannot execute one innocent person. No system is
perfect. And to top it off, for those of you who are
interested in the economics it, it costs more to pursue
a capital case toward execution than it does to have
full life imprisonment without parole.
- Ralph Nader
Meet the Press interview, Jun. 25, 2000

"From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker
with the machinery of death... I feel morally and
intellectually obligated simply to concede that
the death penalty experiment has failed. It is
virtually self-evident to me now that no combination
of procedural rules or substantive regulations ever
can save the death penalty from its inherent
constitutional deficiencies."
- Justice Harry Blackmun
Callins v. Collins

† "Don't criticize and speak evil about each other, dear brothers. If you do you will be fighting against God's law of loving one another, declaring it is wrong. But your job is not to decide whether this law is right or wrong, but to obey it. He who made the law can rightly judge among us. He alone decides to save us or destroy. So what right do you have to judge or criticize others?"
James 5:11-12

I emphatically believe in punishment, but I believe in having compassion and mercy, also. What Karla Faye did, so many years ago, is not condoned by me. Although, Karla committed the incredibly horrific crime she did, I believe she came to recognize her deeds and ask Jesus Christ to forgive her and He has forgiven her, for He is a forgiving God. Her spiritual growth lead her to a point where she could never cause anyone harm anymore. What was gained by KILLING her? She could have remained incarcerated for the remainder of her natural life. It's too late and it doesn’t matter anymore does it, for she is dead now. I do believe that she gained something more beautiful than those who demanded her blood be shed, and that was peace, love and acceptance. Rarely have I seen such peace in a persons face as the peace I saw in her face. More peace, serenity and acceptance of her fate, than I've ever seen before. She literally glowed with faith, for she knew in her heart that He had answered her prayers for forgiveness.

† "How thankful I am to Christ Jesus our Lord for choosing me as one of his messengers, and giving the strength to be faithful to Him, even though I used to scoff at the name of Christ, I hunted down his people harming them in every way I could. But God had mercy on me because I didn't know what I was doing, for I did not know Christ at that time. Oh, how kind our Lord was, for he showed me how to trust Him and become full of the love Christ Jesus."
1 Timothy: 13-14

I once saw a video called "The Faces of Death," which showed the real live execution of a man in the electric chair. They sat him in the chair, strapped his legs and arms and covered his eyes with a black scarf. When the electrical currents were released, his body jolted violently for what seemed an eternity. I saw a thick liquid; ooze down from behind the black scarf, onto his cheeks. The thick liquids were his eyes pouring out from his eye sockets. I can't find the words to describe the horror I felt. I do know in my heart that this vile act was not right and was the epitome of torture. Yes, I agree that whatever the crime which this man had committed was terribly wrong, yet the "An Eye for an Eye" version is not the answer. Yes, he had to be punished but with "life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

† "All right, hurl the stones at her until she dies. But only he who never sinned may throw the first!"

Karla, without mercy, took away the life of a totally helpless human being. Karla's was a totally helpless human being herself, when we, a God fearing society, mercilessly took away her life. We committed the identical merciless act she committed years ago, which was the act of committing murder. Isn’t murder the taking of a defenseless person’s life? Karla was a lamb taken out to slaughter, just as her victim was, on that fateful day, so long ago.
How many souls have we murdered, in the state Texas, the state of "Tex-Ecution?" How many were innocent of the crime for they were accused? One? 10? More? The Death Penalty is two simple little words that cover the horror of their true meaning. "Legal Murder."

"In Texas, the death penalty is sacred as the Bible."
- John Hermann, political science professor
Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas

There have been many known cases where many innocent people in prisons have been eventually found innocent. There have been many who weren’t so lucky. They were executed and later found to be innocent. What if YOU or a loved one were someday accused of an act of which you had nothing to do with, and were sentenced to death? It's very possible. This is another reason I'm against the Death Penalty, I don't want to take that chance of having an innocent man/woman executed.

Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from eternal death. He forgives all who acknowledge to Him their error and He answers all who plead forgiveness. It is not for us to say who sins more and who sins less or who dies and who lives. "Thou Shalt Not Kill" means exactly what it says, THOU SHALT NOT KILL. If we believe in Jesus Christ and the New Testament, then we must believe and honor that He will judge and do as He sees fit for each and everyone of us. Is He not the one who said, "Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do?" Have we placed ourselves above Him, in showing no mercy, humility and forgiveness?

† "Then Peter came to Him and asked, "Sir, how often should I forgive a brother who sins against me? Seven times?" "No!" Jesus replied, "Seventy times seven!"
Matthew 18: 21-22

I know in my own heart who and what I am. I could fool myself and fool those who know me, but NOT my Lord Jesus Christ. You won't EVER find me pounding away at my chest in prayer, crying "HOLY" "HOLY." I do not proclaim myself to be a saint. I'm FAR from it; how can I, when He sees all? The day will someday come, when I’ll meet Him face to face, and will have to give accounts for each and everyone of my sins, and the list will be endless, but at least, He will know that in life, I stood firm in against taking the life of a human-being, through either the Death Penalty or ABORTION.

† "Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
Psalm 127:3

† "And the person who keeps every law of God, but makes one little slip, is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is."
James 2: 10

Let’s not fool ourselves; if we demand the demise of a human being, then we are as guilty of committing the very same act that the criminal committed. None of us ESCAPES what will be due us in the END.

† "Don't judge, and then you won't be judged. For others will treat you as you treat them. And why worry about a speck in the eye of your brother when you have a board in your own? Should you say, 'Friend, let me help you get out that speck from your eye,' when you can't even see because of the board in your own? Hypocrite! First get rid of the board. Then you can see to help your brother."
Matthew 7: 1-5

I don't care to live by "An eye for an eye," because if I did, I wouldn’t be human anymore. Those of you, who have children, teach them that "violence" only begets "violence." Are you not contradicting yourself when you say you’re for the Death Penalty?
I REFUSE to be in agreement or be a party with the "legal" aspect (Death Penalty) of committing murder.

† "The law of Moses says, "If a man gorges out another's eye, he must pay with his own eye. If a tooth gets knocked out, knock out the tooth of the one who did it. But I say: Don't resist violence! If you are slapped on one cheek, turn the other too."
Matthew 6: 38-39

† Be gentle and ready to forgive; never hold grudges. Remember the Lord forgave you, you must forgive others.
Colossian 4: 13

† "You have no right to judge your brother or look down on him. Remember, each of us will stand personally before the Judgment Seat of God. For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, "every knee shall bow to me and every tongue confess to God." Yes, each of us will give an account of himself to god. So don’t' judge each other any more."
Romans 15: 10-13

† "For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it but to save it."
John 4 3:17-17

† "Don't forget to be kind to strangers for some have done this and have entertained angels without realizing it!"
Hebrews 13: 2

Death Penalty Quotes

"Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their kind. It is the deed that teaches not the name we give it."
- George Bernard Shaw

As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses. An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation. Justice is never advanced in the taking of a human life. Morality is never upheld by a legalized murder.
- Corretta Scott King

Well, Timothy McVeigh got just what he wanted. He went out in a blaze of media attention, however notorious. He does not have to live with what he did. Those who remain do. Maybe locking him away by himself without access to media or any other soapbox would have led him eventually to a state of remorse that could have led to true repentance. Now we will never know.
- Miriam Thompson
in a letter to the editor, Newsweek, 7/9/2001

Capital punishment is a good way of making miscarriages of justice irrevocable while reducing murder rates not at all.
- C.D. Hare

When people of color are killed in the inner city, when homeless people are killed, when the "nobodies" are killed, district attorneys do not seek to avenge their deaths. Black, Hispanic, or poor families who have a loved one murdered not only don't expect the district attorney's office to pursue the death penalty, which, of course, is both costly and time consuming, but are surprised when the case is prosecuted at all.
- Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ

By reserving the penalty of death for black defendants, or for the poor, or for those convicted of killing white persons, we perpetrate the ugly legacy of slavery... teaching our children that some lives are inherently less precious than others.
- Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, former President,
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 1989

I will believe in the death penalty when you will prove to me the infallibility of human beings.
- Marquis de Lafayette

Give the unborn a chance to live!
"Thou shalt not kill"
the UNBORN or the LIVING.